10am-5pm Registration & Identity Caucusing

This special hike will be guided by Transformative Professional Coach, Raynelle Rino

It will serve as a good pause and resetting of your inner well-being, while reclaiming the ancient self care practices of exercising personal power, intuition, and intentionally reconnecting with the elements. This hike is ideal for the busy, high functioning, and hard working professionals looking to create an specific time to reground as a self-care practice in/with nature.

We'll start by gathering in a more intimate location of the park for a grounding ceremony. This will support our presence with each other and our surroundings. We'll then be guided through a process to develop your intention for the day and a specific meditation to hold while walking in meditation. Most of the hike will be done in silence with some points of breaking into talking circle.

One of the biggest barriers to PGM staying in the outdoor, environmental, or conservation fields is the lack of visible role models within their spheres to whom they can turn for advice, inspiration, and mentorship. In this panel we will highlight leaders in various sectors within this space, including the environmental justice space, conservation space, big green sector, and foundation space, who will share their stories about how to navigate this space, engage in self care, and maintain inspiration.

Accessing and accentuating circle process by engaging the senses, exploring commonalities through awareness in movement and breath, participants discover connection. By establishing connection, participants gain empathetic understanding of others and are more willing to engage in compassionate efforts on collaborative projects, which intrisically propel positive change. Participants will be able to exercise their options of choice in their level of ability with the resource to be honest within themselves, allowing self trust and esteem to form, rise, and elate as needed naturally or intentionally. Experientially, and with emphasis on honoring each breath and heartbeat within every being, mindfulness awareness will enhance grounded appreciation of present moment, instilling calm.

10-11:30AM Morning Sessions

“Once upon a time…” is a popular refrain that has stood the test of time. Stories are how we convince our children to eat their vegetables, how business tell consumers why they should buy their product, and how grantees tell funders why they need to support their work. Yet stories about people of color are often under-represented and less amplified. Telling a powerful story takes skill, discipline and practice. In this workshop, we hope to provide participants with the tools and resources to craft compelling stories that resonate with their target audiences and inspire them to action. We will walk through why storytelling works, break down storytelling into fundamental elements, share examples and wrap up with some hands-on workshopping in small groups.

The Sierra Club Outdoors will host an in-depth discussion about the lack of the diversity in the outdoors and environmental organizations. It will be a panel discussion about the challenges of being a person of color in the outdoors and the lack of staff of color at the largest environmentalist organizations in the country. What are solutions to addressing these issues?

11:30-2:30pm Lunch & Career Fair

This session is an intentional safe space and exclusive to the LGBTQ+ communities. We will build community through storytelling, conversations and art. Through art activities, we hope to amplify voices, validate experiences and empower our LGBTQ+ communities to thrive in outdoor spaces. You don’t have to be an artist to participate, all skill levels welcome! Be prepared to be present and create opportunities for healing.

2:30-5pm Afternoon Sessions

When we utilize “radical” and “aesthetic” in their etymologies, we engage “our senses at the root” or “root our senses.” This session will explore the sensorial relationship between nature & people, how this practice can be integrated into environments systematically designed to be anesthetic -- to take away our senses, and how aesthetic can be reappropriated as a rebellious act of connection inside of atmospheres of separation. As we cite/site Dr. Shawn Ginwright’s language of “the persistent-traumatic stress environment” through a black feminist geography lens, we will explore how urban environments disconnect us from ancestral, innate relationships to nature and memory and how gentrification and development abuse aesthetic to displace and disconnect us. We will also explore creative ways POC are decomposing these violences through media, installation, sculpture and performance as an act of demanding and creating spatial justice and hold our own radical imagining in the workshop together!

How does your immigrant identity manifest in your environmental education? We’ll answer this question together in this session. To begin, let’s go on an adventure together to Olympic National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site characterized by its rich biodiversity and incredible quietness. We’ll learn about the environmental science concepts Ariel observed first-hand at Olympic through her Chinese language and culture. Huge Chinese calligraphy scrolls, bright watercolor and gouache illustrations, and film photos are examples of original works Ariel will present to support her storytelling. The goal of this session is to empower environmentalists of color to make environmental education culturally relevant: by modeling how to integrate our unique narrative to tell scientific stories about our environment.

2:35-3:30pmRoom 4

"Untold History of Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIA) in the Outdoor and Environmental Sectors"Christopher Chalaka and Kaiwen Lee (Outdoor Asian)

In this session, we will be going beyond Thoreau and Theodore Roosevelt. From the matsutake pickers of rural Oregon to the Seattle Japanese American camera clubs, Asian & and Pacific Islander Americans (APIA) have a rich and varied history in the outdoors. We will look at case studies of APIA communities in outdoor spaces highlighting stories of environmental expertise, art, outdoor recreation, labor and cultural identity. We will also facilitate a workshop that will connect biography to history, weaving individual stories into a collective timeline.

2:35-3:30pmRoom 5

"Tools for Supporting Single Identity/Affinity Experiences in the Outdoors" ***Paola Flores and Agnes Vianzon

Single identity-based spaces are beneficial to both individuals and communities. Join us in a discussion and learn from wisdom in the room on how to best approach agencies and partners so that they are open to supporting these spaces and how we can best leverage this collective power to create tangible change.

2:35-5pmOutside Lobby

"Yo Cuento Outdoors: A Hike with José" José G. González

Join Jose Gonzalez on an inter-sectional hike at Joaquin Miller Park where we will discuss and experience nature as a natural, historical, and emotional landscape while holding a space for shared expertise. We'll engage in a 3 mile hike with some activities for Nature Rx, interpersonal connections, and discuss relevant inter-sectional topics around culture, identity, and history. Head over to the Logistics page to find or create a carpool!

We are the living, breathing evidence of our ancestors’ survival. Their tragedies and triumphs live within us. How can we make sense of the trauma they endured and passed on? Where can we find their strength in our lives and what does it mean to live in their presence from moment to moment? Participants will have the opportunity to explore the practice of ancestor worship in relation to these and other questions. An agnostic spiritual perspective will inform the tone of this session.

This presentation will explore how and why language matters in your organization’s programs. Topics will range from defining what communication is to how facilitators can incorporate a quick and simple action plan for their audiences. The presentation will have a minor linguistic approach accompanied by personal experiences in the outdoor education field, and include participant discussion. This is open to everyone and all who would like to share with their colleagues simple changes that create a safer and more welcoming space for everyone.

Groundtruthing (data or observations collected on the ground) is a tool for communities to answer their own questions and gather their own data without relying on institutions that claim ownership of community knowledge once they conduct research. Through a presentation of various community-driven research projects, which utilized groundtruthing to collect data on various environmental justice issues, we will examine best practices for this community-driven data collection tool. Groundtruthing projects include identifying potentially contaminated lots in a community and testing soil in decentralized community gardens.

5-6pm Happy Hour

5-6pmLobby

Happy Hour

6-8pm Dinner & Reception

6-8pmAuditorium

Dinner & Keynote AddressDallas Goldtooth

Friday, May 25

7-8am Breakfast

7-8amAuditorium

Breakfast

7:45-9AM Plenary

As PGM work together in the conservation and environmental fields, we need to be acutely aware of how we may erase experiences of indigenous people, particularly in the public lands narratives that we adopt and amplify. In this panel we will listen to indigenous leaders tell diverse narratives about indigenous and Native connections to land, water, and wildlife so that we can honor indigenous presence and connections, and decolonize our work in the outdoors, conservation, and environment.

9:05am-12pm Morning Sessions

Environmental and historic conservation archaeology, land management practices, and historical ecology are all pressing topics in not only the professional world but also the academic side. Given the emerging ethical dilemmas of today and their ability to be thrust into the spotlight using social media, there is a growing need to answer the question of who are we? And who is holding us accountable? Using St. Croix’s Estate Little Princess site as our case study, we’ll delve into a project that involves the local St. Croix community, their conservation and tourism organizations, and black archaeologists and diving teams, to create a project that is truly inclusive.

GirlVentures’ Spring Break course is a 5-day camping, rock climbing and hiking expedition in Pinnacles National Park for girls of color to safely and collectively experience the healing capacity of the outdoors. Students will cultivate rock climbing skills and explore the caves and cliffs of Pinnacles. GirlVentures has been making the outdoors accessible to girls for the past 20 years. In March of 2018, GirlVentures (will) actualized their first girls of color Spring Break course. This workshop will focus on the importance of centering girls of color in the outdoors, the experiences of the youth and instructors and the intentional steps taken in planning such a transformative course.

Groundwork Richmond, a non-profit organization, has approximately 22,000 new tree planting opportunities throughout Richmond, California, that will help increase the city’s urban tree canopy cover. This project took a multi-resolution approach to identify areas where Groundwork Richmond is achieving canopy coverage and areas that are still in need of more trees. Landsat 5 and 8, and Planet RapidEye satellite imagery was integrated with socioeconomic and demographic data to map optimal locations for future tree-planting campaigns. This work produced informational materials to increase public awareness and inform Groundwork Richmond youth volunteers about the benefits of urban trees. Attendees of this session will leave with a better understanding of how NASA DEVELOP applied freely available satellite datasets to quantify urban tree canopies within the city of Richmond, CA, and how these datasets can benefit other local communities. They will see how geospatial technology and agency collaboration can address environmental justice issues. Attendees will learn more about how the NASA DEVELOP program offers STEM job opportunities to students, recent graduates, and early or transitioning career professionals. We will also highlight how this program, in collaboration with Groundwork Richmond, is raising awareness of future job opportunities in places like NASA and in environmental fields like conservation. This project was conducted out of NASA Ames Research center for the 2018 spring NASA DEVELOP term.

9:05-10:30amRoom 5

"Using Improv to Heal as a Person of Color"Brian Teng

Many of the principles of improv can also benefit people of color. This talk discusses spontaneity, the "Inner Critic", permissions, celebrating failure, emotional awareness, connection, and more. Time and space allowing, participants will also have the opportunity to try a few improv activities.

Social media has become not only the primary way of communication but the best method to share and amplify stories of the diverse connections that PGM have with the outdoors. There has been a wave of social media influencers in the PGM space who have leveraged social media to tell the stories that are buried, erased, or just not told. These social media influencers continue to complicate and enrich the narrative of who, where, and how we connect to the outdoors and conservation.

Environmental Educators of Color is a monthly meeting that convenes at the Crissy Field Center. We feel that our meetings serve a need in the environmental education field and we would like to provide a workshop to help others in their field create similar spaces for folks at their workplace. We will provide tools, resources, and stories of how we identified opportunities, overcame obstacles and were able to secure funding from our predominately white organization to support a space exclusively for folks that identify as people of color.

Education Outside creates effective and culturally responsive programming in 55 diverse schools across the San Francisco Bay Area. We'll discuss and define the term cultural inclusivity in the context of outdoor education and share Education Outside’s best practices for using the outdoor classroom as a space for garden education and nature connection, particularly for students of color. Participants will break up into discussion groups to discuss and collaborate ways to create programming through the lens of cultural inclusivity.

Staff representation and diversity is a critical step in making the outdoors welcoming and accessible to all. How can hiring practices help us build the environmental field we want to see? Using my own experiences with a new intentional hiring process for interns my team implemented as a jumping off point, I hope to encourage a safe space for people to share their stories from both sides of the hiring experience.

9am-12pmLobby

Poster Presentations

12-1pm Lunch

At REI, we believe that a life outdoors is a life well lived – for all. Partnerships are at the core of being a Co-op and integral to the fulfillment of that belief. REI strives to be a connector, a convener and a facilitator for all who have or aspire to have a connection outside. Since 2008, REI has built strong partnerships with organizations that provide space, belonging and outdoor experiences to multicultural communities. Launched formally in 2012, REI’s National Partnership Program has continued to evolve, informing the co-op’s own learning about the definition of the outdoors -and who it is for. The program has steadily gained local and national momentum and become integrated across many touchpoints of the Co-op. Join REI as they share highlights from their multicultural millennial research, partnership approach, engagement strategies and the impact of this body of work to the Co-op’s broader efforts to expand the outdoor narrative.

1-4pm Afternoon Sessions

1:05-2:30pmAuditorium

"4 Ways People of Color are Tokenized at Work and How to Stop It"Olivia VanDamme (City Suft Project)

There is a racism that many of us have witnessed, perpetrated, or experienced in the workplace and unfortunately more so in the non-profit sector - Tokenism. Why is this? How can we put an end to it and speak truth to power? Hear from your non-profit colleague, Olivia VanDamme about her experiences and how she overcame this, as well as tips to recognizing it in your workplace and how to confront this covert racism taking place in our sector.

1:05-2:30pmRoom 4

"Inclusion Leaders Powerhouse Gathering" ***Miho Aida (NatureBridge)

Do you hold a position as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion director/manager/coordinator at your institution? If so, come meet others like you! Let’s network, share struggles, best practices and how you are leveraging your power and position to create a structural change. This will be a space for support, dialogue, brainstorm, exchange and collaboration. Come prepared to share yourself and your organizational work such as self-care and sustainability, DE&I strategic plan and framework, staff training module, board and senior leadership engagement, communication, etc.

Participants will get to play improv games (fun!) as a form of experiential learning. Discussion will also include how to connect intentions/objectives to playful activities and how to use debriefs to increase learning.

This interactive session will briefly consider the history of homogeneity in the environmental sector, deeply explore the past, present and enduring costs to marginalized groups with emphasis on people of the global majority, and futurecast the possibility that the environment is best served when it serves people of color. Come prepared to speak your truth! Bring your experience, both good and bad and your voice to the conversation. Together we will name the challenge and strategize about the movements that are acting now (!) to claim and shift power in progressive spaces that still miss the mark for WOC.

This workshop is a call to understand the ways racial history and geography intersect and ebb and flow inside and outside bodies. The physical weapons of racial oppression in the United States - genocide, colonization, slavery, exclusion, assimilation, and domestication of people of the global majority – operated through geographic racial assaults, appropriations, displacements, colonization, relocations, and domestication that created generational traumas in bodies of people of global majorities. These generational geographic racial traumas and their disruption of natural protective responses produced unhealthy emotional legacies and distrust for open spaces that undermine collective health. They also undermine the mainstream environmental movements that fail to address intersectional history. Somatic literacy offers a personal approach for understanding the inner biological determinants of racism and how they ecologically intertwine to block resolution. It can be applied to expose racial geography trauma on bodies functioning under white supremacy and colonization. It also helps to crack the code for racial reckonings and reconciliation to make the pursuit of genuine racial unity feasible. This workshop is for participants who want to invest in an overdue investigation of how colonized geography and its traumatic legacies live in the body and can be transformed in the body.

In this live moth-style storytelling event, participants will have the opportunity to share ~5 minute stories celebrating their relationship to the outdoors. The idea is to tell stories from the past, present and a reimagined future. #BeenOutside is an ongoing storytelling campaign by Brown Environmentalist, celebrating the different and many ways that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) have spent time in the outdoors for generations and throughout history, and how BIPOC continue to enjoy time outside today. How have you #BeenOutside and what does “outside” mean to you? #ReclaimOurFuture asks us to reimagine an ideal, “science fiction” future— what does our relationship to nature look like in this reimagined world? We intend to create a space for authenticity, humor, warmth, sadness and collective healing as folks share their important stories and visions.

2:35-4pmRoom 4

"Organizing & Coalition-Building for Inclusion: More Than Just a Seat at the Table"Surabhi Shah & Justin Yee (EPA & NPS)

*Insist on inclusion* whether you are working across government, businesses, NGOs, foundations or community organizations. Whatever your focus, draw on stories from the locally-driven, national Urban Waters movement (and others) to identify ways you can address power dynamics and create a more inclusive path forward. Whether it’s “your” table or you’re working to ensure your powerful voice is heard and heeded, learn and share strengths-based approaches for inclusion. Join us and come away with new tools, allies, stories for healing, inspiration and action. Facilitators will draw on their experience working with a diverse and wide range of public, private and community organizations – and draw out yours!

Join us to learn about the process to renovate the standardized outdoor field trip into an unforgettable relevant learning moment for youth of color, to create bridges between raptor migration and human immigration. During the school program Migratory Story, students (Grades 5-12) explore the essential question “Why do living things move?” Students learn about obstacles and aids to raptor migration and human immigration through taxidermy raptor specimens, a field visit and art reflection activity. Participants will participate in the program, review curriculum and close with a circle discussion on how to apply the above teaching tools to their work.